Arrival in Fentress, TX

We have arrived at our next project and our host church is Fentress Community UMC.  It's a small church with a big heart and

our three rigs are parked in their yard..

One of their requests was to repair  the skirting on the church so Stel is working on the back and

Steve and Sandy are working on the side.  

 Despite how very small this congregation is (3 churches share 1 pastor who preaches in all 3 locations each Sunday) they are incredibly outreach oriented.

This home is the main focus for this project.  The roof has been repaired many times but Hurricane Harvey took off all the repair work and the interior has heavy water damage so that the lady can only live in one room.

Both the front and the back are leaking heavily and all the soffit and facia are missing in the rear.

We begin by tearing off loose tarpaper

and begin to install plastic to keep out rain which is forecast for the next week or so.

The plastic will protect the interior some while we wait for supplies and better weather to replace the roof.

:On the garage end in front, the soffit and facia are totally rotted out

so Steve and Steve tear out the damage

and Stel and Steve install new facia and framing and

Stel, Sandy and Steve cover the opening with new facia.

Steve and Sandy begin installing framing for new soffit and facia in the rear.

We got new material for the rear soffit and facia but with the rain

we moved to the back porch at the church where Steve, Steve and Stel cut new soffit

 

and Sandy and Stel painted it with primer after setting up inside the church hall.

Then Stel and Steve painted all the new soffit to match the house.

and painted the facia as well.

We also used our rain days for work around the church.  Sandy is cleaning in preparation for touch up painting.

and she paints scuff marks on the altar

with help from Steve.

The other Steve repairs wiring for the lighted cross and 

the first Steve planes a door so it will fit better.

Back at Lupy's house, the Fema workers had piled water damaged debris in the garage but never came back to haul it away.  Additional rains caused the drywall and insulation to further collapse into the mess

so we moved in to bag up the mess and get it out so that when the roof is replaced, interior repairs can begin.  Not only is it rainy, but it has become quite chilly, thus the coats and hats.

 The weekend is our time for touring the area.

This area was an oil boom town at one time and there are monuments to that era.

A nearby town hosts a "watermelon thumping" event annually and they paint their water tower to celebrate the event.

Hopefully, the weather next week will allow opportunity to get some roof installed on Lupy's house.  We'll keep you informed.

3 week R&R in McAllen, TX

We've spent 3 weeks in this 55+ RV community.

which is a combination  of RVs and "Park Model" trailers for Winter Texans to spend the winter.

It features many amenities including this library with game tables

and puzzle desks.

They offer shuffleboard and horseshoes,

weekly dart matches,

Bingo 2 evenings each week,

Wednesday and Saturday meetings with coffee and donuts and lots of other activities such as pool and golf.

There are frequent parties like this "Pirate Party"

with a local DJ.

There are weekly "Jam Sessions" 

with a host of musicians and singers.

There are hosts of other activities in the area like this Sate Park

with opportunity to inspect local flora

such as these beauties.

We are surrounded by Orange groves

and are camped adjacent to this farm which allowed our puppy to socialize with local residents.

We took a drive to locate the last "hand operated Ferry"over the Rio Grande but it was so busy we couldn't get near it

so we toured the area and came across this lovely church

and if you look carefully at the top

you will be this Border Patrol camera balloon monitoring the border and the river.

It is not a "wall" but it is a very high fence patrolled constantly

and it goes on for miles.

Well, it has been fun but it's now time to "clean up" and get back to work.  Heading to Fentress, Tx. next.